Tag Archives: Supreme Court

MSNBC: I confronted Sec. Noem [Bimbo #2] because our democracy is threatened like never before

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President Trump has demonstrated he’s willing to tell any lie to justify jailing anyone.

Last month, President Donald Trump shared an edited image of the knuckles of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident with protected status wrongfully sent to a Salvadoran detention facility. The photo showed “MS13” apparently added above his knuckle tattoos, even though other photos of his hand did not have that text. Last week, I had a chance to ask Homeland Security Security Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem if she had investigated how an edited image came into the president’s hands. Not only did she refuse to answer, she barely acknowledged that the image was edited.

Politics is hyperbole. I know that voters have become inured to politicians saying, “The opposing party is the end of the country as we know it!” But what we are witnessing today is like nothing we have seen since the founding of this country, almost 250 years ago. Every warning light on democracy’s dashboard now flashes red.

Since taking the Oval Office, Trump has never been coy about his ambitions to rule as a dictator rather than serve as a president, accountable to the people who put him there. In just the past few months, he’s laid out the groundwork to jail innocent people and silence his political enemies, all under the guise of “law and order.” Perhaps in just a few months, Trump’s authoritarian ambitions will be realized. And it will be like how Hemingway described how one grows broke: “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”Just last week, Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and one of his longest-serving enablers, said the White House was “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus for immigrants.

Let’s be clear: Suspending the constitutional right to challenge unlawful detention is not some academic exercise or abstract policy debate, as many on the right may claim. Miller is deadly serious. There is no ambiguity. Equally explicit is the United States Constitution: Only Congress can suspend habeas corpus, and only in cases of actual rebellion or invasion.

Suspending habeas corpus is the move of dictators and despots.

Click the link below to read the whole article:

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/eric-swalwell-kristi-noem-kilmar-abrego-garcia-rcna207275

MSNBC: Musk’s influence won’t fade just because he says he’s pulling back on political spending

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He’s still the world’s richest person, he still has a relationship with the world’s most powerful man, and he can still do a lot more damage.

Not too long ago, Musk was working to position himself as the kingmaker of the Republican Party. Members of Congress were terrified of his money and influence — and the possibility of a primary challenge. For now, that fear may be over, or at least diminished, but don’t underestimate the damage that Musk has done and will continue to do behind the scenes.

While Musk’s efforts to eliminate waste and fraud in the federal government have been nothing short of a disaster, he has still managed to bank some big wins during the first few months of the Trump administration — at least for himself.

As NBC News reports, Musk’s “regulatory problems have started to fade into the past.” At the Agriculture Department, Trump fired the person who had been investigating Musk’s company Neuralink. At the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, DOGE cuts have potentially hobbled regulators’ ability to enforce the law against Tesla and X. Trump’s Justice Department has also dropped a case against Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX.

Musk also appears to have succeeded in using his clout and government access to get his companies more business. His ventures are set to rake in billions in new government contracts.

So, while Musk says he is taking a step back from political spending, that does not mean we’ve seen the last of his influence in government. It’s too late for that. He’s still the world’s richest man, he still has a relationship with the world’s most powerful man, and he can still do a lot more damage.

Charlie Sykes: Musk’s influence won’t fade just because he says he’s pulling back on political spending
He’s still the world’s richest person, he still has a relationship with the world’s most powerful man, and he can still do a lot more damage.

https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/elon-musk-political-spending-trump-influence-rcna208261

Politico: Trump admin deportation flight to South Sudan violated court order, judge rules

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It’s the latest rebuke in an escalating clash over Trump’s deportation agenda. Several judges have now accused the administration of defying the courts.

The Trump administration “unquestionably” violated a court order when it put seven men on a deportation flight bound for South Sudan, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, suggesting that administration officials may have committed criminal contempt.

The rebuke from U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy is the latest episode in an intensifying clash between the administration and the judiciary over President Donald Trump’s campaign to carry out rapid deportations while evading court oversight.

Three federal judges have now castigated the administration for circumventing, or outright defying, court orders that have sought to block or reverse aspects of Trump’s deportation agenda. And several others — including a majority of the Supreme Court — have scolded the administration for attempting to violate immigrants’ due process rights.

…

The hasty deportations fell far short of the due process requirements in Murphy’s April ruling, the judge said Wednesday.

Trump admin deportation flight to South Sudan violated court order, judge rules
It’s the latest rebuke in an escalating clash over Trump’s deportation agenda. Several judges have now accused the administration of defying the courts.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/21/trump-deportations-south-sudan-00362919

New York Times: If We Can’t Prosecute Trump’s Foes, We’ll ‘Shame’ Them, Justice Dept. Official Says

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Few, if any, of those singled out have done anything to invite conventional prosecutorial scrutiny, much less committed crimes to warrant an indictment under federal law.

President Trump has kept up a steady bombardment of suggestions, requests and demands to arrest, investigate or prosecute targets of his choosing — the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, various Democrats, officials who refuted his election lies, Beyoncé, the Boss.

But Mr. Trump’s directives have so far hit a stubborn snag. Few, if any, of those singled out have done anything to invite conventional prosecutorial scrutiny, much less committed prosecutable crimes to warrant an indictment under federal law.

But a Trump loyalist, given new, vague and possibly vast power, has found a workaround.

In recent days, Ed Martin, the incoming leader of the Justice Department’s “weaponization” group, made a candid if unsurprising admission: He plans to use his authority to expose and discredit those he believes to be guilty, even if he cannot find sufficient evidence to prosecute them — weaponizing an institution he has been hired to de-weaponize, in the view of critics.

In other words, if they can’t prosecute their target, they’ll engage in character assassination.

So much for a professional Department of Justice!

https://archive.is/SLN1j#selection-707.0-730.0

Miami Herald: Supreme Court ruling on TPS stuns South Florida, leaves Venezuelan families in fear

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A U.S Supreme Court ruling that allows the Trump administration to strip deportation protections and work permits from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans — including many Miami area residents — sent shock waves through South Florida and across the Sunshine State on Monday.

“That the U.S. would terminate the protections for Venezuelans now, when nothing has improved back home, is just unbelievable,” said Betsy Diaz, a Venezuelan-American in Hialeah whose two daughters, five grandchildren and several other relatives will lose the protections.

In a two-paragraph order, the nation’s highest court on Monday granted an emergency request from the White House to roll back a lower court judge’s order that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for about 350,000 Venezuelans. It was part of an ongoing lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco challenging the Trump administration’s February decision to revoke the protections granted to Venezuelans and other nationals from certain countries in turmoil.

The court provided no explanation for why it had lifted the lower court judge’s order, which prevented the Trump administration from removing the protections while the litigation is ongoing.

Supreme Court ruling on TPS stuns South Florida, leaves Venezuelan families in fear
“Unbelievable,” said a Venezuelan American grandmother in Hialeah

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article306751681.html

MSNBC: Trump says the Supreme Court is stopping him from deporting criminals. He’s wrong.

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Contrary to the president’s reaction, the Supreme Court on Friday emphasized that the government can still conduct normal removals.

The Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday was significant for checking President Donald Trump’s attempt to use the Alien Enemies Act for deportations with little notice to the people targeted for removal. But the decision didn’t go as far as the president claimed in response, when he published on his social media platform: “THE SUPREME COURT WON’T ALLOW US TO GET CRIMINALS OUT OF OUR COUNTRY!”

It’s true that the ruling kept a hold on the government removing certain people under that particular wartime authority, which had only been invoked three previous times in U.S. history, all during declared wars. Judges around the country have almost uniformly deemed Trump’s invocation illegal. The justices have yet to decide the ultimate legality of the act’s use in this situation.

But the court ended its ruling Friday by emphasizing: “The Government may remove the named plaintiffs or putative class members under other lawful authorities.”

That is, nothing stops the government from carrying out removals the way it always has, under long-approved methods that don’t require courts to analyze novel questions about the president’s attempt to use the apparently inapplicable 18th century act. Especially if the Supreme Court ultimately rejects Trump’s use of the act, that would affirm that the administration (not the court) has needlessly made its own deportation efforts more difficult.

Trump says the Supreme Court is stopping him from deporting criminals. He’s wrong.
Contrary to the president’s reaction, the Supreme Court on Friday emphasized that the government can still conduct normal removals.

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/trump-supreme-court-alien-enemies-act-deportations-rcna207643

Associated Press: Trump administration asks Supreme Court to block watchdog access to DOGE documents

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The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to block court orders requiring Elon Musk ’s Department of Government Efficiency to turn over documents about its operations to a government watchdog group.

The Justice Department’s latest emergency appeal to the high court concerns whether DOGE, which has been central to President Donald Trump’s push to remake the government, is a federal agency that is subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The administration argues DOGE is merely a presidential advisory body that is exempt from requests for documents under FOIA.

The administration wants the justices to freeze orders that would force DOGE to turn over documents to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and have acting DOGE administrator Amy Gleason answer questions under oath within the next three weeks. CREW sued in February, claiming that DOGE “wields shockingly broad power” with no transparency about its actions.

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to block watchdog access to DOGE documents
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to block court orders requiring Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to turn over documents about its operations to a government watchdog group.

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-doge-freedom-information-records-trump-14a1773b42ddad1e3367a39750a84bef

Washington Examiner: Appellate judge blasts courts’ ‘special treatment’ for illegal immigrants

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Circuit Judge James Ho issued a blistering concurrence Tuesday, taking aim at the Supreme Court and other courts’ “special treatment” for illegal immigrants in legal proceedings.

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued an order to expedite the oral arguments of a challenge to the deportation of a group of Venezuelan nationals under the Alien Enemies Act in Texas. The order came after the Supreme Court vacated the appellate court’s previous ruling, saying it lacked jurisdiction, and denied a bid by the migrants’ lawyers to temporarily stop President Donald Trump’s administration from deporting the group of foreign nationals under the AEA.

Apparently Slo Ho didn’t appreciate the urgency of the higher court and the fact that the higher court had vacated their previous ruling for lack of jurisdiction.

Kudos for the Supreme Court’s sense of urgency. When people are being deported, they can be here today and gone tomorrow, if not sooner.

That’s hardly “special treatment for illegal immigrants”. They’re people, too.

Judge blasts courts’ ‘special treatment’ for illegal immigrants
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued an order expediting oral arguments of a challenge to Trump’s deportations.
Appellate judge blasts courts’ ‘special treatment’ for illegal immigrants

Another article here:

Trump judge slams Supreme Court ‘disrespect’ after ruling
A circuit court judge criticized the Supreme Court after it blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to deport Venezuelan migrants.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-judge-slams-supreme-court-after-ruling-2075295

NBC News: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem struggles to define habeas corpus at Senate hearing

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“Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country,” Noem said. “That’s incorrect,” a Democratic senator responded.

My God, how stupid is this woman?

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem mangled a response to a question about habeas corpus at a Senate hearing Tuesday, referring to the constitutional right of due process as a “right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country.”

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked Noem about the constitutional protection after noting that White House adviser Stephen Miller told reporters earlier this month that the administration was “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, the right to challenge an arrest or imprisonment.

“I want to clarify your position,” Hassan asked. “What is habeas corpus?”

“Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country, and suspend their right to … ,” Noem responded before she was cut off by Hassan.

“That’s incorrect,” the senator said.

“Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason,” Hassan said, calling it a “foundational right.”

“So Secretary Noem, do you support the core protection that habeas corpus provides, that the government must provide a public reason in order to detain and imprison someone?” she asked.

Noem responded, “I support habeas corpus. I also recognize that the president of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not.” 

Uhh … no, he doesn’t.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem struggles to define habeas corpus at Senate hearing
“Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country,” Noem said. “That’s incorrect,” a Democratic senator responded.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna207986

New Republic: Transcript: Trump’s Threats to Defy Courts Suddenly Get More Dangerous

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As Trump’s intent to override the courts gets more obvious, a legal commentator who closely observes MAGA lawlessness explains why the Trump-MAGA strategy here is darker than you thought.

This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network. I’m your host, Greg Sargent.

President Donald Trump is very unhappy with how things went at the Supreme Court when it comes to his effort to end birthright citizenship. He uncorked two angry epic tirades about the High Court, essentially putting it on notice that it had better rule his way on this and other matters coming before it or else. This may look like typical Trumpian bullying and threats, but we think there’s a game going on here that people are missing. It’s that Trump is, in a very real sense, playing chicken with the Supreme Court. He’s trying to bluff the justices into constraining themselves from putting limits on Trump’s power. We’re going to explore how this really works today with one of our favorite legal commentators, Matthew Seligman, a fellow at Stanford Law School.

Best to click on the link and read the dialogue:

Transcript: Trump’s Threats to Defy Courts Suddenly Get More Dangerous
As Trump’s intent to override the courts gets more obvious, a legal commentator who closely observes MAGA lawlessness explains why the Trump-MAGA strategy here is darker than you thought.

https://newrepublic.com/article/195392/transcript-trump-threats-defy-courts-suddenly-get-dangerous